Books I read in April 2015
One Piece: Baroque Works 16-17-18, by Eiichiro Oda, 4.5/5 (A)
Chopper's background, the first appearance of Ace, and the start of the Alabasta arc in earnest. Great stuff.
Dungeons & Dragons: Hoard of the Dragon Queen, by various, 3.5/5 (B-)
An OK adventure path, though kind of a disappointment for a) the first adventure path for the new D&D and b) a product from Kobold Press. The adventure sits uneasily between an unfolding storyline and a series of standalone adventures, without really capturing the advantages of either approach. This results in an uneven mix of segments, with some that try to do too much (like the opening city-under-siege scenario) and some that play things a bit too safe (the generic dungeon crawl in the dragon hatchery). There are also a few encounters that are way too powerful for levels 1-7 (dragons and vampires, mainly). However, I did like the sequence with the caravan, and the sections with the lizardfolk-bullywug rivalry and the final flying castle both contain some great ideas, so it isn't a total loss.
Dungeons & Dragons: The Rise of Tiamat, by various, 4/5 (B)
An improvement on Hoard of the Dragon Queen, though the result is only good rather than great. The chapters are better integrated with the overall storyline, and they try harder to make the players' actions important to the plot - however, there are still issues with railroading. The details on factions and the chapters on winning their favor make for an interesting angle, although I would have preferred a more chronological placement of those chapters. The "dungeons" are interesting and well-thought-out, with the ice one being my favorite - although the wizard's tower is notable for how old-school it feels. The final battle is a bit disappointing, as it seems kind of bare-bones, leaving it up to the DM to make it truly epic.
Doctor Who: Planet of Giants, by Terrance Dicks, 4/5 (B)
A short, straightforward, and reasonably entertaining tale. Had it been a bit longer, they might have been able to have more fun with the miniaturization concept...
Designers & Dragons: The '70s, by Shannon Appelcline, 4.5/5 (A)
An interesting first volume! This installment covers the founding days of the industry, including many of the big firsts, and underscores how things are both different from and similar to today. (One surprising similarity is how big indie publishers and unlicensed third parties were, back in the day.) It was also striking to see quite how much of an 800-pound gorilla TSR was in the early days, something I'd only seen the tail-end of in the 1990s - seemed like most if not all of the other companies in the book had some brush with TSR, often of the unfriendly kind.
I enjoyed reading this book - it's very well-researched, with solid overviews of each company, and it continually reminds you how interconnected each was with other companies and trends of the day. There's a ton in there I hadn't heard of before - I doubt you could find a better book for an overview of the industry as a whole at the time.
That said, there are some minor issues. The book is very strong on the business and publishing side of things, and tracing important innovations in rules and concepts. However, it's weaker on the "human interest" angle, and could have used more biographies of the big names, or more anecdotes describing what people enjoyed about these early games. This might make it a dry read at times for anyone not already invested in the subject.
Also, I would have liked more broad-overview material, beyond the section introductions or the appendix at the end. Perhaps more sidebars, or even a timeline, to give a better sense of the big picture than you get bouncing from company to company. And I was a little disappointed that major non-US/UK RPGs only got tiny mentions (though I understand that would be an effort unto itself).
Of course, these complaints are ultimately just nitpicks, as what we did get is still an amazing achievement, with few predecessors (all of which were less comprehensive). I definitely recommend this for anyone with an interest in RPG history.
Chopper's background, the first appearance of Ace, and the start of the Alabasta arc in earnest. Great stuff.
Dungeons & Dragons: Hoard of the Dragon Queen, by various, 3.5/5 (B-)
An OK adventure path, though kind of a disappointment for a) the first adventure path for the new D&D and b) a product from Kobold Press. The adventure sits uneasily between an unfolding storyline and a series of standalone adventures, without really capturing the advantages of either approach. This results in an uneven mix of segments, with some that try to do too much (like the opening city-under-siege scenario) and some that play things a bit too safe (the generic dungeon crawl in the dragon hatchery). There are also a few encounters that are way too powerful for levels 1-7 (dragons and vampires, mainly). However, I did like the sequence with the caravan, and the sections with the lizardfolk-bullywug rivalry and the final flying castle both contain some great ideas, so it isn't a total loss.
Dungeons & Dragons: The Rise of Tiamat, by various, 4/5 (B)
An improvement on Hoard of the Dragon Queen, though the result is only good rather than great. The chapters are better integrated with the overall storyline, and they try harder to make the players' actions important to the plot - however, there are still issues with railroading. The details on factions and the chapters on winning their favor make for an interesting angle, although I would have preferred a more chronological placement of those chapters. The "dungeons" are interesting and well-thought-out, with the ice one being my favorite - although the wizard's tower is notable for how old-school it feels. The final battle is a bit disappointing, as it seems kind of bare-bones, leaving it up to the DM to make it truly epic.
Doctor Who: Planet of Giants, by Terrance Dicks, 4/5 (B)
A short, straightforward, and reasonably entertaining tale. Had it been a bit longer, they might have been able to have more fun with the miniaturization concept...
Designers & Dragons: The '70s, by Shannon Appelcline, 4.5/5 (A)
An interesting first volume! This installment covers the founding days of the industry, including many of the big firsts, and underscores how things are both different from and similar to today. (One surprising similarity is how big indie publishers and unlicensed third parties were, back in the day.) It was also striking to see quite how much of an 800-pound gorilla TSR was in the early days, something I'd only seen the tail-end of in the 1990s - seemed like most if not all of the other companies in the book had some brush with TSR, often of the unfriendly kind.
I enjoyed reading this book - it's very well-researched, with solid overviews of each company, and it continually reminds you how interconnected each was with other companies and trends of the day. There's a ton in there I hadn't heard of before - I doubt you could find a better book for an overview of the industry as a whole at the time.
That said, there are some minor issues. The book is very strong on the business and publishing side of things, and tracing important innovations in rules and concepts. However, it's weaker on the "human interest" angle, and could have used more biographies of the big names, or more anecdotes describing what people enjoyed about these early games. This might make it a dry read at times for anyone not already invested in the subject.
Also, I would have liked more broad-overview material, beyond the section introductions or the appendix at the end. Perhaps more sidebars, or even a timeline, to give a better sense of the big picture than you get bouncing from company to company. And I was a little disappointed that major non-US/UK RPGs only got tiny mentions (though I understand that would be an effort unto itself).
Of course, these complaints are ultimately just nitpicks, as what we did get is still an amazing achievement, with few predecessors (all of which were less comprehensive). I definitely recommend this for anyone with an interest in RPG history.